"Fwightened?" replied Diana; "that aren't me." She turned her back and strode back to Orion.
"'Member you is a giant," she said, in a whisper; "and giants never is fwightened."
The man laughed again.
"Well, they are a queer little pair," he said. "I tell you what it is, Rodesia Lee; I'll give you a pund apiece for 'em. Come, now; not a penny more."
Diana stared very hard indeed when these words were uttered. She had not the faintest idea what a "pund apiece" meant. Mother Rodesia seemed to consider.
"And you may think yourself in rare luck," continued the man; "for, remember, if it is known—" Here he walked to the farthest end of the room, and Mother Rodesia followed him.
"You had best close up the bargain and be quick about it," he said; "for not one penny more will you drag out of me. I'll give you a gold sov. for each of 'em, and that's as much as I can manage. They will take a sight of training, and then there's the risk."
"Very well," said Mother Rodesia, "I suppose I had best do it; only they are worth more. There's a fortune in that little gal, and whenever you are tired of her, why, there's a rich father to fall back on. I spect he would give a sight of money to have her back again. Very well, we'll agree; only, if ever you do get a fortune out of that child, Ben Holt, you might remember poor Rodesia Lee."
The man laughed and patted Mother Rodesia on her shoulder. Then the pair left the room, locking the door behind them.
"What does it all mean?" said Orion.